Straight Panic was born out of a double-pronged state of frustration—at a lack of visible representation within the contemporary Noise/Power Electronics scenes, and a need to air out/work through political grievances. Even before its official inception, the project was always intended to focus on three criteria:
Aggressively Queer
Confrontational
Politically Radical/Revolutionary
Straight Panic must exist, as long as queer bodies are broken and murdered. Straight Panic will not be silent as long as there is inequality/injustice. Straight Panic stands opposed to all placating, heteronormative centrists.
Straight Panic has been in operation since 2015 as the main recording/performance moniker of Thomas Boettner. His work has been released on Phage Tapes, Breathing Problem Productions, Deathbed Tapes, Angst (Italy), Modern Decadence (Mexico), Moral Defeat (Denmark), Black Ring Rituals, and No Rent Records, among multiple other labels/imprints. He relocated to Providence, RI in July 2020 with his husband and two dogs.
This set marks the first venue performance for Straight Panic since November 2019, as well as his “soft debut” to Providence. Utilizing material from Anthropobscenity (Deathbed Tapes, 2020), Mineshaft (Summer Interlude Records, 2020) and The Heavy Sigh; The Settling-in (Base Materialism, 2021), Straight Panic emerges from the solitude of the pandemic studio. The two tracks performed at AS220—”Quarry” and “Sediment Deposition”—focus inward, on notions of identity and strain, what it means to “be oneself” when apart from society; how does one’s identity shift after being separated from the dominant culture for 6, 12, 18 months? Amidst the turmoil of 2020, and the exasperated sigh of 2021, Straight Panic has continued to focus on what resistance means, albeit with a more focused, forced gaze towards the internal landscape of the individual in isolation.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in hundreds of events at AS220’s Empire Street venues being cancelled. Since it isn’t possible to gather for shows, AS220 Live Arts is bringing performances from local artists directly to you to watch from the comfort and safety of your own home with“AS220 Streaming Sessions” – high quality multi-camera, multi-track, live-streamed or pre-recorded weekly performances! AS220’s LIVE ARTS performance spaces are unjuried and uncensored forums for the arts,offering every artist residing in our small state the opportunity to perform or present their original work at our venue. If you are a performer interested in setting up a Streaming Session, especially if you had an event cancelled at AS220 due to the pandemic, email booking@as220.org.
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